Lightning Head to D.C. Down 2-0 to Caps

Published 8:00 pm, Saturday, April 12, 2003

Already down 2-0 in their first-round playoff series, the Tampa Bay Lightning head to a city where they haven't won in 4 1/2 years.

Games 3 and 4 against the Washington Capitals are Tuesday and Wednesday at the MCI Center, where the Lightning have lost 11 straight games. Their last victory there came Nov. 4, 1998.

The streak includes a 10-1 rout in 1999 that shattered all sorts of Capitals franchise scoring records.

Presented with the facts, Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said the only thing he could: The past doesn't matter.

"We're going to try and find a way," Tortorella said. "No guarantees, but we'll be ready to play."

The first two games went according to plan for Capitals coach Bruce Cassidy, who wanted to take control of the series by rattling the playoff-inexperienced Lightning in their own building. A pair of three-goal victories _ 3-0 and 6-3 _ has the rookie coach on his way to his first series victory.

"We're halfway there," Cassidy said. "Once we look back on the fact we won two in a row on the road in a tough building against a good club, we'll get a little more excited. We're trying to stay as businesslike as we can."

The Capitals' power play, inconsistent all season, produced three goals Saturday. Jaromir Jagr, playing with a sore wrist that affects the grip on his stick, had two goals and two assists. Peter Bondra, who has scored more goals against the Lightning than anybody, had two goals and an assist.

Add a shutout from Olaf Kolzig and two goals from Robert Lang in Game 1, and the Capitals are looking well-rounded.

The Lightning tried to establish a physical presence in the first two games, but Jagr and the Capitals laughed it off.

"I thought we had good discipline," Cassidy said. "It's written on our board. I think at this time of year you win with talent and you win with discipline. There are a lot of other factors that go into it, but those are the two biggest things."

The poster boy for lack of discipline so far is Tampa Bay enforcer Andre Roy, who was scratched in Game 1 because he's had a knack for taking bad penalties. Given a chance by Tortorella in Game 2, Roy promptly went out and rammed Steve Konowalchuk into the corner about seven minutes into the first period. Nine seconds later, the Capitals scored on the power play and led 2-0, putting Roy on the bench for the rest of the game and probably the series.

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"We want to play with that energy and grit and play physically," Tampa Bay forward Martin St. Louis said. "But at the same time there's a fine line, and we've got to know where that line is."